Earth Angels

What an interesting 24 hours.  First, my bike died while on the on the way to a campground last night. Luckily there was a gas station within bike pushing distance. It was closed for the night. So, I camped in a field next to the store. In the morning, I had to wait until the store opened, only to find that there wasn't anything in it that I could use to fix the bike. So, after trying several things, I got a gentleman who owned a store nearby to give the bike a jump. The bike started but before I could get loaded and ready to roll, it died.  The owner of the gas station offered to fill my tank for me and  when I asked the store owner to jump the bike again, he was agreeable. After he had done so, he shook my haand with $20 in it. ("The Universe loves to give me money.")

I rode the bike to Walmart and bought a small charger. I asked the manager of a Valvoline Oil Change station if I could use his outlet and was given permission. While I was taking the battery off the bike, a guy in an SUV offered to take the battery and charge it at his house and then bring it back. I hung out for 4 or 5 hours waiting for it to charge. When he brought it back, I put it on the bike and...nothing. So I took the battery inside and a sweet woman at customer service told me that the battery was under warranty and I could just go get another one. I did, made the exchange and went out to get it ready.

It was 9:20 by the time I had filled it with acid and the directions said to wait an hour before putting it on a charger. Then it would be about 10 hours before I could use it. I rented a couple movies and sat on a curb while the battery charged. About 2:30 or so, I walked a couple hundred yards to a White  Castle. I found out that they had an outside plug and that I could use it so I made the switch and sat in the restaurant until about 7am. I put the newly charged battery on the bike and it ran fine. I immediately went to a campground and pitched my tent and went to sleep.

A number of blessings happened while I was there, but I'm going to jump to the next day. I woke up to a gray and cloudy day. I checked the radar and saw that there was a major thunder storm barreling down on me. I quickly packed up, knowing I was racing the weather, and made it to a Denny's restaurant just as it began to rain. I half-covered the bike and made it inside just as the skies opened up. I made a balloon for a little girl and found out when I finished eating that the dad had bought my breakfast as he was leaving. Blessings!

I got back on the road and was doing great...for about 115 miles. Then the bike started acting up again. It was so bad that I could barely keep it going at 60 mph. At one point, when I would aactivate the ER flashers, the bike would die in time with the lights activating! I finally found a place to pull off the freeway in a little town called Barnesville. The bike totally did as I pulled into  a DQ parking lot. I was able to plug the battery in and I waited a while. Later, I saw a fellow playing some boys in the driveway of a farm across the street. This man turned out to be another Earth Angel. I went over to ask him if he had a certain tool I could borrow and he took on the bike issue as if it were his own.

Dave  has gone out of his way to be of service. He's let me camp on his property, he's taken me around to find another battery and when we finally did find one, told me that he was going to buy it for me. He called one of his friends, Jerry, who also turned out to be one of the Universe's agents. Jerry came over and has helped me figure out what to do with the battery situation and even surpirsed me by giving me a set of highway platforms, about $60 new. He's had several 'Wings and even let me take his '85 Interstate (a 'Wing almost exactly like mine) for a short ride. Now I know what the bike will feel like when it has full power and what it would sound like if it didn't have an exhaust leak.

Okay, other stuff will have to wait. It is almost 11 and that is when the new battery is due to arrive. I think I have the tools and knowledge to figure out if something other than the battery is the trouble, though if it turns out that it is more than the battery, I don't know what it would be or how to fix it. More later.

My website, insightsoftheheart.com

For those interested,  my site has been canceled. The cost of maintaining it was too great and I have very little evidence that it was doing anyone any good. At some point in the not too far distant future, I'll find a cheap alternative.  In the meantime, if anyone wishes to donate funds, it can be easily done by emailing me via PayPal.  My book, 'Yes, You Can Dance', will be sent to you by request.

May you be blessed.

July 4th...

The big news today (the 5th) is an email from Sharon basically saying goodbye. Not sure if it is a forever goodbye or perhaps just until I can make up my mind. I'm, of course, not happy about her decision, but I can easily understand it. Love for each other has never been our problem.

I had been planning to stay in La Cross, Wi the night before last but couldn't ride that far. It concurred to me that where I worked the 4th didn't matter since no one was expecting me in La Cross,  so I stopped in Milton, Wi. I camped in one of the busiest campgrounds I've ever been in. They wanted $44 for one night of tent camping. I didn't know what the price was and I would have easily been able to leave without paying, but my inner peace is worth a lot more than a few dollars. When I went to pay, they gave me the space for being honest in coming to pay when they didn't even know that I was there.

I twisted at Milton's 4th celebration. Sat down on my little stool at 11am and didn't stand up again until 5, took a 20 minute break and then twisted until 10. Brian, the park manager, gave me permission to set up my tent on-site. I life such an awesome life! This morning, I packed up and went for breakfest. I made a balloon for an incredible little 5 year old who came and hugged me and wanted to stay with me. It was the best gift any child could give to me. I am so happy than I know how to twist balloons....

I made enough money yesterday that I don't feel pressured to work today. I think that I will mosey on down the road and maybe find a park to spend a few hours in. This restaurant,  Ray's, is quite nice.. if you happen to pass through Edgerton,  stop in.

Leaving Ohio, and Sharon

It felt very odd, saying goodbye to Sharon. If she and I don'twind up together, then the Universe had better have an amazing plan for me to make up for the loss; it's hard to imagine anyone could love me more. What an amazing woman... She left the condo first and I tried to be gone before she came back, figuring that it'd be easier all around.  I almost made it, we passed each other on my way to the freeway.

I was planning to go to a new friend's house for a healing session before I left Cincinnati but got caught in a major traffic jam. Since it was much later than I wished and it looked like I would hit rain, I gave up and just headed on to Marion to see my brother. Flirted with rain most of the way. I stopped at the Iron Pony motorcycle accessory store in Columbus and bought something I've wanted for a long time: a phone holder for the handlebars. Usually they are way too expensive, but I got an amazing deal.

I rented a room at a hotel and got a later-than wanted start to go see my brother. I missed getting to see him before count (they count all the inmates several times a day) so had to wait for an hour before he came out. We had a great visit. I'm very happy for my brother; he has found the secret of being free while his body is imprisoned. What a lovely gift!

The ride to Plymouth, In, was uneventful but beautiful. I took Hwy 30 into Indiana and it is a lovely road. I highly recommend it as an alternative if one is traveling from\to Cincinnati or Columbus to\from points northwest. Once arriving to my couchsurfing host's house, I was greeted by Paul in the driveway. A very pleasant man and as we got to the door of the house, I was very enthusiastically greeted by 5 dogs of differing sizes and one loving cat who somehow managed to not get stepped on.Lara, a dog groomer, welcomed me and made a wonderful vegitarian pizza and tasty salad. Had a comfortable rest on the couch and had the joy of watching happy, well-rested dogs greet the morning.

On the road again around 9:30, I think...

Humble...

Weds: Another day. It is what it is. This one resulted in previously unknown knowledge that I still owe too much in back child support ($3600) to obtain a passport. If I had the passport, then I would be able to get a job on a cruise ship which would pay off the child support in a very short time. Ah, well, it is what it is. Funny how life works out.

Sat: This weekend seems like it may be a bust for making money. The weather forecast calls for rain and storms. Not only can I not twist in the rain (the balloons can't adhere to themselves when wet, nor can I draw on them, and who would I twist for?) but getting to where I might be able to twist becomes problematic because of the need to get there via motorcycle. Oh, well..."the Universe loves to give me money." This has been my new mantra for the past few weeks. So far, it hasn't been sending me gobs of money, but it takes a while (sometimes) for the Universe to get the message...actually, for my own id to get it; the Universe is always ready to give. Looks like I may just be heading out with very few bucks in my pocket...as if that is a new thing. :-) (Just checked the radar; rain will be arriving in about an hour. There is very little food in the house so I think I may have to run out for some. Maybe I'll spend the day making some more YouTube videos...)

My friend, Fred Smith, welded the portions of the crash bars of my bike for me Thursday. He gifted the work to me. Fred is an incredibly nice man. He came to me years ago to learn to dance. He got to be a very good dancer, though at first, he didn't believe he'd be able to. I'll tell you what, I hope I have the energy he has at 75 when I'm 50; the man is amazing to watch! It is almost impossible to believe he is 75. I also had another young man, a tenet here in this condo complex, offer to take the crash bars into where he works and fix them. The Universe blesses me!

It seems that I'll be leaving town, Monday, in rain. I intend to go visit my brother before I head out of the state and then make something of a straight ride all the way through to the Bellingham area. Perhaps I will be able to make it out there in time for my friend's (Laurie) Birthday/Solstice/Summer party, if it happens. In any case, I'll get to visit my daughter and my friends for a little while. How long I stay may depend on whether there are places to twist. The last time I was there, coming up with funds was a little difficult due to competing balloon twisters. If things work out, I'm hoping to spend the month of August in the Monastery again. This time, perhaps I will be in a position to absorb more of the "being there" instead of trying to figure out what my outside (the monastery) life was going to be like. While I'll still have some of that going on, I likely won't be going through a grieving process like I did the last time.

I don't expect it is going to be easy to leave Sharon. Out of respect for her, I'm not going to write much about our time together, I don't think, but to say that she is a very sweet and loving individual expression of the Universe. 

What does the word, "Humble", actually mean? A quick Google search gave me this:

Adjective Having or showing a modest or low estimate of one's own importance.

Verb Lower (someone) in dignity or importance: "I knew he had humbled himself to ask for my help".

Synonyms adjective.   modest - lowly - meek - submissive - unassuming - low verb.   humiliate - abase - mortify - lower - degrade - demean

I think I have a different definition: Raising everyone in one's estimation to the level of God -- including oneself. Seeing no one as being better or worse, higher or lower in importance than oneself. Recognizing and fully acknowledging that each person we meet is living their own lives with their own experiences, all of which are important to them as ours are to us. It doesn't make sense to me to lower myself to the lowest common denominator rather than raise everyone to the highest. 

Our Greatest Fear —Marianne Williamson

it is our light not our darkness that most frightens us

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

Does this mean to brag? Of course not! But it does mean to recognize that we are all equal, there is no "Higher or lower" in status. We all have the minutes of our lives to sell. What we choose to sell them for doesn't say a word about who we are, it only says something  about what others are thinking. But when we come right down to it, no one's minutes are any more or less valuable than anyone else's. To me, being humble in the traditional definition is the opposite form of being a showoff and is equally a show of pride. Both are extremes and neither are honest. What I do well, I do well because I enjoy doing it and have put forth the effort to be able to do it well. What you do well, you do well for the same reasons. To belittle what we do well is to hide the God-essence within us for the sake of the ego of another bit of God-essence. We all have our aptitudes. Playing small doesn't allow others to shine, it only dims the world. Being real in all areas of one's life allows other to be real, too. I could go on, but this is enough for now, I think. Besides, I'm getting hungry. :-)

The completely incomplete post. Posted in it's entirety.

I am trying something different with this post. I often will create the title before I write the post, but often I don't have clue what I am going to write, so it occurred to me to write first and then let the post tell me the title.

Still in Ohio. Each time I attempt to continue on with my journey, something occurs to keep me here. I must admit that my time with Sharon is extremely pleasant, so I am lax about throwing myself back into the fray. It occurred to me that this time is rest. It is a vacation. Many who do not walk this particular Path that I find myself on cannot understand what I would need rest from; after all, it may seem from an external viewpoint that I am perpetually on vacation. This is not true for me. I work extremely hard on spiritual understandings. To see through the illusions that there is a world of separate anything is so easy that the mind makes it very difficult to do. It is often exhausting, at this point in my growth, to maintain. So, I find myself relaxing and allowing the flow of emotional love for an individual to travel through my system. (Yes, I know that there is a great deal of argument that could be brought to bare on my writing here, but like I said, I am on vacation for a bit.)

I must apologize if my writing seems more philosophical than usual. I just read several entries of a friend of mine, a highly intelligent Theravada Buddhist (Monk. <-- click here to read his blog)This has sparked my own philosophical bent. Add to that my reading 'Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintaince' along with 'The Course in Miracles' and we come up with the perfect storm for a weird post.

I guess I'll get the mundane out of the way and see if I have any energy left to write the post suggested by my previous paragraph. As mentioned, I'm still here with Sharon. We get along very well, though I admit that a great deal of that is her willingness to put up with me than with I, her. She is easy to put up with. I, on the other hand, can be something of a challenge, I admit. In any case, I have been learning to read tarot cards and have even made a bit of money from doing so. I look at them as just another tool to help others see outside their self-made boxes. Time will tell if I am any good at it or if I will grow confidence in their ability to tell the future. Personally, I hold the hypothesis that what the questioner believes will tend to change their behavior in such a way as to bring about the prediction, should a prediction arise from a reading. I am using a deck called the "Cat People" deck, which while not being especially rich in symbolism, does have lots of cats and since I have always had an affinity for cats, the deck "speaks" to me. At my first metaphysical fair, I actually made more than she did, though I fully put it down to beginner's luck. The study is interesting, in any case and I do get to suggest different ways of thinking to people that they may find useful.

My bike is running well, I think. I haven't started it since Thursday, so I'm not entirely sure. A friend of mine has generously offered to weld the parts of the bike that need it. I hope to get it to him sometime today. I heard that my bike insurance had been canceled, but upon investigation, I found that this wasn't so. However, in that investigation I found that to move my insurance to Arizona would cost me WAY more than just transferring my registration to Oregon. So, when I make it back to Oregon, I will transfer my title and registration.

Well, the title of this post just came to me because I am very tired. The heat today has drained me. How does anyone get anything done in weather like this?! So, though this started off with a promise of depth, it seems I must stop while on the level of the mundane. (As though there is a difference!)

Bedtime. Good night, all. Perhaps more soon. (No promises.) :-)

Finally...an update!

Hello everyone. I apologize for the silence. I'll lay it on the line for you. No secrets means an open life.

I owe $3,678.65 in back child support for my son, who is now in his mid-20's. He and his mother live in Ohio. His mother has proven herself to be...unpredictable...in her interactions with me. Although I am not wanted by the legal system in any state, I cannot pay the monthly court-ordered arrears as ordered (though I do pay what I can) and so she would've likely had been able to cause a bit of trouble had she known of my Ohio visit at the time. Now, her possible reactions are much less likely to cause issue.

 I left the reader with the knowledge that I was headed to Ohio and that I had hoped to reconnect with my tiny friend, Sharon. Well, we did reconnect. She is, once again, my very close friend. :-) I met her at a dance and the connection was as though the time in between was but a minute. I'll not get much into the details of our friendship but will say that we are both enjoying the reconnect.

As it may be known, I changed the back tire of my bike while in Virginia. It has been very pleasant to ride on a new tire. Well, after riding here, I discovered that I needed a new front tire, too. Seems something sharp had made a cut in the rubber so it was just a matter of time before it blew. My friend, Wendy Shupe, near San Francisco, donated $200 via PayPal toward the purchase of a new front tire (Thank you!) and when the money arrived in my account, it had shrunk to $193.90. The purchase of the tire and it's installation came to $193.47. The Universe does provide!!

Speaking of providing, I was in need of about $200 to help a friend with rent (after she was left in a bind)...today, a stranger gave me a tip for three balloons of $250. It is the largest single cash tip I have ever received for my balloons in 36 years of twisting. Her rent was made and my tank was filled. :-) What joy! It is not so uncommon that I get a $100 tip; that happens about 2-3 times a year. Twenties are much more common, but $250 from one person? That is rare indeed! Such kindness. I have been given more from friends who support my teachings and lifestyle, but from a stranger for a balloon? Awesome!

The other evening, Sharon and I rode the bike down to Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati. after the evening was over (I was trying to make money while we danced to a live band on the square) we headed back to the bike where I found that there was a short in the electrical system. Sharon was cold and it was late and she was tired and I couldn't get the bike fixed. I forgot that it doesn't matter in the long run. I forgot that the Universe does what it does for Its own reasons and I got very angry at my thoughts regarding the circumstances. It was quite a sight to see, I'm sure. (Sharon is keeping mum.)  I had forgotten that I could cuss like that. In any case, at one point I while trying to fix the bike, I had my hand in a precarious position and when I got shocked, I yanked my hand back and got a cut on my wrist that likely could've benefited from a couple stitches. I'm not concerned about a scar on my hand so I just found a bandaid and continued to work. I discovered that the bike didn't short out at high RPMs so I decided to chance riding it back to Sharon's. After a long cold ride, we made it to her place. I have since bought some tools I needed to work on the bike and I THINK I have fixed the problem. Let's hope so as I don't want to do major damage to the electrical system.

My wrist in healing okay, though it looks like crap and makes wearing the bike gloves painful.

I will strive to add to the updates quickly, but it is late now and I am very tired. Good night, all.